Sonja's marriage to Winthrop ended in 1956. The international star had managed to keep her illness a secret and was seen with her husband at an Oslo theater less than two weeks before her death. In 1921, at Oslo's Frogner Stadium, Henie competed in and won Norway's highest junior level of competition. [2], Kestnbaum argues that although Henie's skating was "athletic and powerful for her day",[2] she purposively added elements,such as using the toepicks of her skates to run or pose on the ice, in movements similar to the use of pointe technique in ballet, that undercut her power and athleticism. Her final two Hollywood films, released in 1945 by RKO and in 1948 by Universal, no longer enthralled postwar audiences, who preferred more sophisticated scripts. Olympics and came in eighth place. She produced her own show at New York's Roxy Theatre in January 1956. ." After her retirement in 1956, Henie and Onstad settled in Oslo and accumulated a large collection of modern art that formed the basis for the Henie Onstad Art Centre at Hvikodden in Brum near Oslo. Her name and likeness were mentioned and portrayed by an ice skating Donald Duck in Walt Disney's 1939 The Hockey Champ. Henie, already a precocious skier and swimmer, cried until her parents bought her a . She starred in a string of hits including They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Colledge, Cecilia. In 1936 she signed with Twentieth Century-Fox, and she starred in 10 popular films, beginning with One in a Million (193637) and Thin Ice (1937). After her marriage to Mr. Onstad, a childhood sweetheart, in 1956, she became interested in modern art. Sporting News (February 14, 1994): S21. Sonja loved She is said to be one of the best figure skaters in history. Sonja Henie - Hollywood Star Walk - Los Angeles Times In afforded her greater ease of movement, and she performed some moves that were downright shocking for the time, including a jump into a sit spin. Retrieved April 27, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sonja-henie. Henie's sense of drama, athletic perfection, and graceful, balletic performances wrought a permanent change in figure skating and paved the way for today's skating superstars. Copy. Her first film, One In A Million with Adolphe Menjou, was a huge Encyclopedia of World Biography. He died of Tularmia (Rabbit . During the 1940s, Henie's popularity with movie audiences began to falter and her contract with Twentieth Century-Fox was not renewed. Henie was not judged to be responsible for the incident, but she decided not to hold any more arena-style shows. She was signed by 20th Century-Fox and debuted in One in a Million (1936), in which she played an ice skater. When sheas a gold medal winnerpassed Hitler's tribune with silver medalist Cecilia Colledge and bronze medalist Vivi-Anne Hultn, neither she nor the others honored Hitler with the Nazi salute. Her wide, dimpled smile, pixie eyes and blonde Nordic good looks made her a great favorite of audiences during the years of World War II. The signature of her ice skate blades adorns the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. As a wealthy celebrity, she moved in the same social circles as royalty and heads of state and made Hitler's acquaintance as a matter of course. "Sonja Henie She finished last, but she didn't give up. Bill Griffin described Henie as a perfectionist with a short fuse. She had no children. A bubbly, smiling figure in her performances, she was in fact a fierce competitor who wanted nothing to do with her rivals. While her ice show numbers were still worth watching, the film received few distributors and poor reviews, ending her film career. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. A year later she won Oslos junior skating championship. Sonja Henie: Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 in Oslo, Norway. Five thousand potential ticket-buyers had to be turned away when she returned to Madison Square Garden in 1937 with the start of her Hollywood Ice Revue. [3] Entries on Henie, many with further bibliographies, appear in Barbara Sicherman and Carol Hurd Green, eds., Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary (1980); Robert J. Condon, The Fifty Finest Athletes of the 20th Century: A Worldwide Reference (1990); and Robert Markel, ed., The Women's Sports Encyclopedia (1997). While improving her skating, in the next few years, she also studied ballet with a former teacher of Anna Pavlova, and eventually she combined the two forms on ice. 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[15], Also according to Kestnbaum, "Henie's largest contribution to public images of skating"[15] was in her professional ice shows and in her Hollywood films, which were often the first time audiences were exposed to figure skating through the mass media. Mitt livs eventyr, Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1938. At 14 she was the Norwegian However, she held off these competitors and went on to win her third Olympic title at the 1936 Winter Olympics, albeit in very controversial circumstances with Cecilia Colledge finishing a very close second. In 1951 Wirtz and Henie were unable to agree on a contract and parted ways. "To her, there were no other skaters," wrote Colledge. Henie's popularity as a film actress attracted many new fans and instituted skating shows as a popular new entertainment. Olympic ice queen Sonja Henie became a Hollywood star and Hitler Henie wed American business executive Winthrop Gardiner Jr. in 1949; he divorced her in 1956 for "desertion and mental cruelty." Critic Roy Hemming enthused about the film when it was among seven video releases made at the time of the 1994 Olympics. playing tennis and she excelled at ice-skating. Sonya Eddy, star of 'General Hospital,' dead at 55 | CNN Both of Henie's parents had given up their own pursuits in Norwayleaving Leif to run the fur businessin order to accompany Sonja on her travels and act as her managers. It was a box-office smash, as were others she made in the following dozen years. Henie characterized her skating as very dangerous, but others said that because she almost never fell she did not know how to do it without hurting herself. [citation needed], After the war, Henie was mindful that many of her countrymen considered her to be a quisling. The daughter of a fur wholesaler in Norway, Sonja Henie received her first pair of ice skates when she was six. Sonja Henie - Turner Classic Movies Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 and died on October 12, 1969. Did Sonja Henie marry? [18] She died of the disease at age 57 in 1969 in an ambulance plane flight from Paris to Oslo. with her constantly, as she did throughout Miss Henie's career. Zanuck took notice of the petite blonde and signed her to a contract. Weatherly did not disclose his brother's cause of death as he paid emotional tribute alongside a throwback photo of himself and Will playing on the beach as children. At the time of her third marriage, Miss Henie was an admirer of Renoir and Gainsborough, but under her husbands influence became as avid purchaser of modern works. She became a millionaire by 1940, an accomplishment that outstrips even the male athletes of her generation. "Tonya-no! Henie was the greatest of all women figure skaters from the 1920s to the 1940s, and perhaps of the entire twentieth century. Although later cleared of any responsibility for the accident, she did not stage any more arena- type shows. 436. Indeed, after the school figures section at the 1936 Olympic competition, Colledge and Henie were virtually neck and neck with Colledge trailing by just a few points. She was 57 years old. Sun Valley Serenade - Wikipedia As a girl Henie also was a nationally ranked tennis player, and a skilled swimmer and equestrienne. [1], Henie was born in 1912 in Kristiania (now Oslo) Norway; she was the only daughter of Wilhelm Henie (18721937), a prosperous Norwegian furrier, and his wife, Selma Lochmann-Nielsen (18881961). As a result, none of Henie's properties in Norway were confiscated or damaged by the Germans. Henie was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in the mid-1960s. Her illness had been a well-kept secret. These activities made her one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world in her time. Three-quarters of a century later, in 2010 . She is mentioned by Ty Webb, Chevy Chases character in Caddyshack, as a possible but unavailable substitute for Rodney Dangerfields character (Al Czervik) in the final golf wager round before Michael OKeefes Danny Noonan is chosen. An English translation, Wings on My Feet, was released in 1940 and republished in a revised edition in 1954. Onstad transformed her art collecting interest from traditional masters to contemporary works; they donated 250 paintings and millions of dollars to Norway and in 1968 completed the Henie-Onstad Museum near Oslo to house the collection and, after Henie's death, her career memorabilia. ." [6] Happy Landing (1938) was her biggest box office hit. In 1927, at the tender age of 14, she won the first of ten consecutive world championships. She died a year later at age fifty-seven. She appeared on several television shows in the next few years, including a one- hour special of her own. As Sandra Stevenson recounted in The Independent, "the closeness [of the competition] infuriated Henie, who, when the result for that section was posted on a wall in the competitors' lounge, swiped the piece of paper and tore it into little pieces. All of her films Through her live ice shows and a series of Hollywood movies, Henie enlarged the audience for figure skating and transformed it into a thrilling entertainment. After the success of her first film, One in a Million (1936), Henie's position was assured and she became increasingly demanding in her business dealings with Zanuck. Henie has won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies' figure skater. After placing last in a field of eight, she increased her practice time to some seven hours a day. "Nobody hit me in the leg or tried to shoot me, but there were some likenesses to what's happening now." Rap singer Once Henie began serious training as a figure skater, her formal schooling ended. The highly-publicized shows were well attended by film stars and filmmakers, including Darryl F. Zanuck of Twentieth Century-Fox. In 1936 she would turn professional and tour with her own ice show. Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. Sonja Henie was born on April 8, 1912 and died on October 12, 1969. [citation needed], Henie is credited with being the first figure skater to use dance choreography, to adopt the short skirt in figure skating, and to wear white boots,[12] which deemphasized the heaviness of skates and produced a lighter and longer appearance of the skater's legs that was "a focal point for judges' and spectators' gaze". The band goes to Ellis Island to meet the girl and soon discovers that the refugee isn't a 10-year-old child, but a young woman, Karen Benson ( Sonja Henie ). [citation needed], Henie became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1940. forced her to retire. Miss Henie was an exacting star. She also began staging and appearing in ice shows, in association with Arthur Wirtz, her business manager, and these, too, were very successful--with lavish costumes and spectacular routines. For this, she was condemned by many Norwegians and Norwegian-Americans. [citation needed] The Royal Family were very mindful of whom they supported after the war[11] and Norwegians looked to them as role models in that respect. With her sunny personality and obvious love of skating, Henie popularized the sport and served as a role model for American skating hopefuls of both sexes, including Dick Button, Tenley Albright (the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal), and Carol Heiss. When Henie began her program, her ballet training was evident in the flourishes she made with her head and legs. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled? "Sonja Henie How did Sonja Henie die? | Homework.Study.com An excellent video documentary directed and produced by Edvard Hambro is entitled Sonja Henie: Queen of the Ice (1993). So the skating star created her own ice show, Sonja Henie with Her 1952 Ice Revue. April 08, 1912 Died October 12, 1969 Cause of Death Leukemia Biography Read More Winner of the Olympic Gold medal in figure skating an impressive three times in a row (1928, 1932, 1936), Henie came to Twentieth Century-Fox shortly after her last win and was built up as a popular star. Nora and her uncle get railroaded into spending the night at a broken-down hotel in Canada. Paris and London were mentioned, but only Hello London (1958) was made with her own backing, co-starring Michael Wilding and special guest star Stanley Holloway. In 1936, following a successful ice show in Los Angeles orchestrated by her father to launch her film career, Hollywood studio chief Darryl Zanuck signed her to a long-term contract at Twentieth Century Fox, which made her one of the highest-paid actresses of the time. Henie opened up opportunities for figure skaters to use their skills to earn a living. In cooperation with promoter Wirtz, Henie honed her skills as a producer of ice shows as well as maintained her prowess as a skater. Sun Valley Serenade (1941), with John Payne and Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, received three Academy Award nominations for best cinematography, best music, and best song ("Chattanooga Choo Choo"), but her two releases in 1942 and 1943 marked the end of her contract with Twentieth CenturyFox. [8] However, a subsequent South American tour in 1956 was a disaster. The best paired her with some of the biggest male stars of the time, including Tyrone Power in Thin Ice and Second Fiddle (1939), Don Ameche (for the second time) and Cesar Romero in Happy Landing (1938), and Ray Milland and Robert Cummings in Everything Happens at Night (1939). Barbara Ann Scott, who became a Canadian heroine at 19 when she won figure skating gold at the 1948 Winter Olympics, succeeding Norway's Sonja Henie as the premier women's skater in a sport . From the Archives: Star Skater Sonja Henie Dies "Even on the podium after the Olympics, there were no kisses, no handshakes, not even a word." Sonja Henie died from leukemia in 1969, at the age of 57. Henie famously asserted that she wanted to do for skating what Fred Astaire had done for dancing on film. She grew up in Norway and was a dominant presence on the ice for . Wirtz also acted as Henie's financial advisor. While we were in Paris she suddenly became much worse and she was examined by a doctor, he said. Far from being discouraged, the youngster poured all her energies into skating. It was her only film shot in Technicolor, but it was not as huge at the box office as her other films and also proved her limitations as a dramatic actress in her only dramatic film. NEW HOPE, PA. John R. Walsh, who toured professionally as the figure-skating partner of Olympic champion Sonja Henie, died Thursday from complications following a stroke. She was a three-time Olympic champion ( 1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927-1936) and a six-time European champion (1931-1936). She finished in last place. Wiki User. [13] When white boots quickly became standard for female skaters, Henie began wearing beige boots because she wanted to remain unique. She was showcased in the Hollywood Ice Revue, which began in 1938 and continued for twelve years in cities across the United States. Henie incorporated ballet movements into her skating; she had taken ballet lessons from the age of five and was influenced by ballerina Anna Pavlova. Burial. (April 27, 2023). Henie was portrayed in the 2018 Anne Sewitsky film Sonja The White Swan, shown at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[26][27][28]. Dividing her remaining years between homes in Norway and the United States, Henie lived happily with her third husband, Niels Onstad. It was an ill-advised decision to set herself up in competition with Wirtz, whose shows now featured the new Olympic champion Barbara Ann Scott. Henie, Sonja (1912-1969) Norwegian figure skater who won three consecutive gold medals and became a movie box-office attraction surpassed in her day only by Shirley Temple and Clark Gable. On his advice, I arranged an ambulance plane to take her home to Oslo. 1932 The daughter of a fur wholesaler in Norway, Sonja Henie received her first pair of ice skates when she was six. She wore jewels during practice and plumes during competition.. In 1953, Henie formed a new partnership with Morris Chalfen to appear in his European Holiday On Ice tour, which proved to be a great success. Became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941. [29], Not to be confused with American basketball player, After the war, Henie was mindful that many of her countrymen considered her to be a, 1936 European Figure Skating Championships, "Cecilia Colledge: Champion figure skater", "AFI's 100 Years 100 Stars America's Greatest Legends", "Nektet pne festspill hvis Flagstad skulle synge", "International Women's Sports Hall of Fame", "Sonja Henie Joins 508th Regt. In the fall of 1968 Henie was diagnosed with leukemia.
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